This page describes how to use LinuxBIOS on the [http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=255&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=171 MSI MS-7260 (K9N Neo)] mainboard. It is maintained by [[User:Uwe|Uwe Hermann]].

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This page describes how to use coreboot on the [http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=255&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=171 MSI MS-7260 (K9N Neo)] mainboard. It is maintained by [[User:Uwe|Uwe Hermann]].

== The mainboard ==

== The mainboard ==

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Some more information on the board is available [http://www.linuxbios.org/pipermail/linuxbios/2007-September/024605.html in the mailing list archives].

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Some more information on the board is available [http://www.coreboot.org/pipermail/coreboot/2007-September/024684.html in the mailing list archives].

So far we have verified that revision 1.0 of the mainboard has a socketed PLCC32 ROM chip (512KB).

So far we have verified that revision 1.0 of the mainboard has a socketed PLCC32 ROM chip (512KB).

Line 104:

Line 104:

|WakeOnMouse_status = Untested

|WakeOnMouse_status = Untested

|Flashrom_status = OK

|Flashrom_status = OK

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|Flashrom_comments = Currently [[Flashrom]] works fine with LinuxBIOS, but it does ''not'' yet work with the proprietary BIOS.

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|Flashrom_comments = Currently [[Flashrom]] works fine with coreboot, but it does ''not'' yet work with the proprietary BIOS.

}}

}}

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== Building LinuxBIOS ==

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== Building coreboot ==

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Build a LinuxBIOS [[Payloads|payload]], e.g. [[FILO]], and copy the resulting file to /tmp/filo.elf.

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Build a coreboot [[Payloads|payload]], e.g. [[FILO]], and copy the resulting file to /tmp/filo.elf.

$ cp payload.file /tmp/filo.elf

$ cp payload.file /tmp/filo.elf

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Checkout LinuxBIOS:

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Checkout coreboot:

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$ svn co svn://linuxbios.org/repos/trunk/LinuxBIOSv2

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$ svn co svn://coreboot.org/repos/trunk/coreboot-v2

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Build the LinuxBIOS image, containing the payload.

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Build the coreboot image, containing the payload.

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$ cd LinuxBIOSv2/targets

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$ cd coreboot-v2/targets

$ ./buildtarget msi/ms7260

$ ./buildtarget msi/ms7260

$ cd msi/ms7260/ms7260

$ cd msi/ms7260/ms7260

$ make

$ make

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Write the LinuxBIOS image onto your ROM chip using [[flashrom]]:

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Write the coreboot image onto your ROM chip using [[flashrom]]:

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$ flashrom -wv linuxbios.rom

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$ flashrom -wv coreboot.rom

<div style="color: red">WARNING: This will overwrite your current BIOS! Make sure you know what you're doing! You should have a way to revert back to the original BIOS in case anything goes wrong. It's a good idea to have a spare ROM chip which contains the original proprietary BIOS. Read the [[FAQ]] for more information. If in doubt, contact the [[Mailinglist|mailing list]].</div>

<div style="color: red">WARNING: This will overwrite your current BIOS! Make sure you know what you're doing! You should have a way to revert back to the original BIOS in case anything goes wrong. It's a good idea to have a spare ROM chip which contains the original proprietary BIOS. Read the [[FAQ]] for more information. If in doubt, contact the [[Mailinglist|mailing list]].</div>

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Note: At the moment flashrom does ''not'' work in the MS-7260 (when booted using the original BIOS). Thus, I'm flashing the ROM chip in a different mainboard where flashrom works. However, flashrom works just fine once the MS-7260 is booted using LinuxBIOS.

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Note: At the moment flashrom does ''not'' work in the MS-7260 (when booted using the original BIOS). Thus, I'm flashing the ROM chip in a different mainboard where flashrom works. However, flashrom works just fine once the MS-7260 is booted using coreboot.

Contents

The mainboard

So far we have verified that revision 1.0 of the mainboard has a socketed PLCC32 ROM chip (512KB).

If you have any other revision of the board, please contact us on the mailing list and let us know if it has a socketed (and PLCC-type) ROM chip.

Status

Device/functionality

Status

Comments

CPU

CPU works

OK

I'm using an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3600+.

L1 cache enabled

OK

CPU: L1 I Cache: 64K (64 bytes/line), D cache 64K (64 bytes/line)

L2 cache enabled

OK

CPU: L2 Cache: 512K (64 bytes/line)

L3 cache enabled

N/A

Multiple CPU support

N/A

Multi-core support

OK

Both cores appear in dmesg and /proc/cpuinfo and work fine.

Hardware virtualization

OK

Tested: modprobe kvm-amd and using kvm works fine (window title shows QEMU/KVM instead of just QEMU). /proc/cpuinfo lists svm, i.e. that the CPU support AMD SVM (a.k.a. Pacifica).

RAM

EDO

N/A

SDRAM

N/A

SO-DIMM

N/A

DDR

N/A

DDR2

OK

It seems some combinations of DIMMs and RAM slots don't work. Using only one DIMM (in slot 1) works for me.

DDR3

N/A

Dual channel support

Untested

ECC support

N/A

On-board Hardware

On-board IDE 3.5"

OK

On-board IDE 2.5"

N/A

On-board SATA

OK

Tested with a 40 GB SATA disk, connected to the "SATA1" connector of the board (there are four). Works with hde2:/vmlinuz initrd=/initrd.img root=/dev/sda2 in FILO (my Linux partition is /dev/sda2). Mounting the drive also works fine when you don't boot from SATA (e.g. from IDE or via etherboot).

WARNING: This will overwrite your current BIOS! Make sure you know what you're doing! You should have a way to revert back to the original BIOS in case anything goes wrong. It's a good idea to have a spare ROM chip which contains the original proprietary BIOS. Read the FAQ for more information. If in doubt, contact the mailing list.

Note: At the moment flashrom does not work in the MS-7260 (when booted using the original BIOS). Thus, I'm flashing the ROM chip in a different mainboard where flashrom works. However, flashrom works just fine once the MS-7260 is booted using coreboot.

TODO

Test the devices marked as "Untested" in the above status table.

Fix flashrom to also work when the board is booted using the proprietary BIOS.

This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or any later version. This work is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.